A log color space is a representation of color values of an image in terms of logarithmic (log) values. Each color value of interest, n, is transformed to its logarithmic value, log(n). Log functions encompass mathematical properties that are useful in image analysis. For example, the log(n)<n for all values of n, and log(n)>log(m) whenever n>m. Of great use in image analysis, in logarithmic mathematics, multiplication and division are replaced by addition and subtraction: log(m*n)=log(m)+log(n) and log(m/n)=log(m)−log(n). Images are the result of illumination interacting with and reflecting from physical materials. The illumination reflections are captured by, for example, an optical system sensor. The image captured by the sensor conflates the contributions of the material and the illumination. Moreover, the illumination impinging on the sensor includes a wide dynamic range that varies from shadowed dark surfaces to shiny bright surfaces. Log transforms of color values simplify image analysis through the simplified mathematical properties of log functions, and, the use of log transforms has been considered in research directed to image analysis processes.
Chromaticity is a color representation of an image that ignores the intensity levels of the color values of the image. Thus, a chromaticity representation of an image is illumination invariant, that is each “color” of the chromaticity representation is independent of illumination. Such a representation is useful in computer vision applications. For example, in a robot designed to travel along a path identified by its color, expressed by the red, green and blue components of the color (R, G, B color values) of the path, the robot will view a shadow on the path (which will exhibit different R, G, B intensities and values) as something other than the path. In an accurate chromaticity representation, the color properties of the path are invariant from full illumination to full shadow. Thus, the robot is able to operate by correctly identifying the path regardless of the presence of shadows. Another application would be in finding a match between a sample image and any similar images within an image library. Illumination invariant versions of images facilitate the matching process by reducing variability caused by differences in illumination among images of similar material objects.
In one known chromaticity representation of an image, each R, G, B value is replaced by a normalized r, g value, where r=R/(R+G+B) and g=G/(R+G+B). In recent research efforts, the use of a log transform has been considered in connection with a chromaticity representation of an image. In one such proposed log color space, chromaticity values, r, g are explained in terms of logarithmic chromaticity values a, b, where a=log(R/G) and b=log(B/G). It is further explained that the log of the chromaticity values for a material under Planckian illuminants are approximately linear in the log chromaticity space, and each material line depicted in the chromaticity space will have the same slope. Each material line can be projected to a point on a line perpendicular to the slope of the material lines. The distance of each projected point along the perpendicular line is a grayscale value that can be used to generate a grayscale image without any shadows.
However, the known log transformation of the chromaticity values is used to generate representations that are invariant to Planckian illuminants. A Planckian illuminant is an illuminant that is generated according to Planck's law for black-body radiation. As a material is heated, it will glow, and the color radiated changes from red to blue, to ultraviolet, and so on as the temperature of the material rises. Planckian illuminants form a set of colors that correspond to different temperatures. However, the set of colors is limited, and the prior log color space chromaticity proposal only approximates a truly illuminant invariant representation of an image.